U.S. sees threat from Afghan-Pakistan border area

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pakistan is not yet equipped to combat the militant threat emanating from the remote area bordering Afghanistan, a senior Bush administration official said on Friday amid stepped-up U.S. strikes in that area.

President George W. Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, would not discuss American counterterrorism efforts in that area, including a reported U.S. commando raid, but said Washington was trying to help Pakistan's government address the threat.

"This is a problem that's been created in sovereign Pakistani territory and the problem is going to be solved when Pakistan has an ability to exercise control over that territory," Hadley told reporters.

"We recognize that in the short term right now there are threats emanating out of that area that threaten Pakistan, that threaten our troops in Afghanistan and potentially threaten the homeland," he said ahead of Bush's meeting next week with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

Their meeting on Tuesday before the United Nations General Assembly comes as tensions have flared between the two allies over suspected U.S. strikes within Pakistan's borders against al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

Hadley declined to address the strikes or concerns that U.S. forces could come under fire from Pakistani troops if they entered Pakistan without Islamabad's permission.

"We want to cooperate closely with Pakistan, we also need to ensure as best we can that threats do not materialize out of that area," Hadley said. "We work very closely with Pakistan authorities."

With violence declining in Iraq, Washington has increased its focus on Afghanistan and the border region with Pakistan, where attacks have soared over two years.

U.S. officials have said Pakistan was not doing enough to clamp down on militants using that region as a base. But some analysts cautioned that unilateral U.S. action puts pressure on Pakistan's new government and threatens its cooperation with Washington.

Zardari was elected earlier this month and replaced a close U.S. ally, Pervez Musharraf. Bush and Zardari spoke by telephone last week and both pledged to cooperate.

Hadley acknowledged that Pakistan's new government was working to find its footing and that "they obviously are very concerned about Pakistani sovereignty."

A strike on Wednesday on the Pakistani side of the border killed five militants. But a senior Pakistani official with knowledge of the operations told Reuters it was a result of better intelligence-sharing with the United States.

That followed a visit to Pakistan by the top U.S. military officer, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, who reiterated the U.S. commitment to respect Pakistan's sovereignty.

(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky; Editing by Eric Walsh)